Spoilt for choice: 57 candidates fight for 15 seats on council
Voters will have plenty of choice when they head to the polls to elect the first Canterbury Bankstown Council next month. Fifteen seats will be hotly contested on September 9 — with 57 candidates raising their hand for the job.
The Express
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Voters will have plenty of choice when they head to the polls to elect the first Canterbury Bankstown Council next month.
Fifteen seats will be hotly contested on September 9 — with 57 candidates raising their hand for the job.
History teachers, a physio, an ex-chef and real estate agents are all in the mix and the two major parties will be fielding three candidates in each of the five wards.
Labor has an all-woman ticket in Canterbury and 37 per cent, 21, of all candidates are women.
Nine independents are standing including Bankstown Bushland Society President Chris Brogan.
A further nine will represent Our Local Community including three members of the same family, the Parkers, in the Revesby ward.
Only one former Canterbury councillor, Greens candidate Linda Eisler, will run again.
Five former Bankstown councillors including Allan Winterbottom (OLC), Khal Asfour (ALP), Linda Downey (ALP), Glen Waud (Lib) and Alex Kuskoff (ALP) will also be hoping to be re-elected.
Former Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour said he was very happy with the team of ALP candidates picked for him to lead.
“Hopefully we get as many election to Canterbury-Bankstown Council as possible to hold this State Government to account,” he said.
“It’s really good to have community-minded people to represent the Labor Party in our area,’’ he said, pointing to candidates such as Bankstown PCYC’s Bilal El-Hayek and Nadia Saleh of Riverwood Community Centre. One of the top candidates for the Liberal Party is former Bankstown councillor Glen Waud.
He said: “All Liberal candidates are proud to be running in this election and are very focused on serving the needs of the community into the future,” he said.
No members of the OLC got back to The Express either, but the party is believed to support the de-amalgamation of Canterbury Bankstown and are pushing for no more parks open spaces to be sold.
The Greens have nominated history teacher James Rooney as their lead candidate for Revesby Ward.
“I want to be a voice for local residents to ensure that community concerns are not overridden by the interests of developers and big business,” Mr Rooney said.
To find out more about the candidates, go to: candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au.
Meet your candidates
Bankstown ward: Saud Abu-Samen (Ind), Amer El-Adib (Ind), Abir Abu-Samen (Ind), Khal Asfour (ALP), Bilal El-Hayek (ALP), Nahil Chidiac (ALP), George Zakhia (Lib), Tien Nguyen (Lib), Akil Ahmad (Lib).
BASS HILL ward: Charbel Ishac (Lib), Anamul Haque (Lib), Lam Nguyen (Lib), Allan Winterbottom (OLC), James Lowe (OLC), Jacqui Winters (OLC), Alex Kuskoff (ALP), Rachelle Harika (ALP), Mariam Mourad (ALP), Joanne Kuniansky (not stated).
REVESBY ward: Scott Parker (OLC), Jan Parker (OLC), Ronald Parker (OLC), Chris Brogan (Ind), Bob Wilson (Ind), Jacquie Dredge (Ind), Linda Downey (ALP), Steve Tuntevski (ALP), Gemma Ashton (ALP), Glen Waud (Lib), Ruth Le Bas (Lib), Richard Noonan (Lib), James Rooney (Gre), John Ky (Gre), Sue Virago (Gre), Wendy Lindsay (Ind).
ROSELANDS ward: Emmet De Bhaldraithe (Gre), Janice Hall (Gre), Stephen Moralee (Gre), Mohammad Zaman (Lib), William Vasiliadis (Lib), George El-Mourani (Lib), Nadia Saleh (ALP), Mohammad Huda (ALP), Hassan Kureshi (ALP), Lincoln Shafiqullah (Ind).
CANTERBURY ward: Philip Madirazza (Lib), Mirjana Maksimovic (Lib), Joseph Naddaf (Lib), Linda Eisler (Gre), Catherine Turner (Gre), Kristian Bodell (Gre), Jennifer Azzi (OLC), Michael Kotsopoulos (OLC), Caterina McLean (OLC), Clare Raffan (ALP), Imogen Wareing (ALP), and Floris Lam (ALP).
*Ind (Independent), ALP (Labor), Lib (Liberal), Gre (The Greens), OLC (Our Local Community).
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